Prensa

The 28th International Equipment and After-Sales Automotive edition has just ended and Vitobello Ricambi would like to express its heartfelt thanks to all the Customers, Visitors and Collaborators who have come to visit the stand.

Also in this edition the interest in our brand and our products has been amazing and this demonstration feeds even more the passion for our work.

We spent days of intense and engaging activity which gave a fruitful comparison and an interesting exchange of knowledge with great professional value.

With perseverance and tenacity we will continue on the path of developing products and services to offer in the next future an increasingly reliable and competitive partnership.

For those who could not attend the fair it is possible to contact us by e-mail and telephone. It is also possible to consult our website www.vitobello.it where you can get all the information about our company.

For visitors it may be difficult to understand offhand, considering the vast number of new, nearly new or extremely well-kept vehicles on Dubai’s or Abu Dhabi’s sun-baked avenues and boulevards. Yet, annual sales of automotive and heavy-duty parts amount to more than ten billion dollars a year in Dubai alone. Predictions are that the number is set to rise very considerably over the coming years. How do remanufacturers figure in this? ReMaTecNews put the question to some representatives of foreign companies that have monitored developments in recent years. Here are their answers:

Mickey Matthews, WABCO Reman Solutions

Remanufacturing is a new concept that the Middle East is looking at right now. Middle Eastern customers, however, are short of reman know-how. Because the customers are not welleducated in reman and are not sure of the quality of the products, we have to develop the supply chain ourselves. Cost is also very important to customers and many, if they have money they will prefer to buy new.

Truck or fleet operators who have had huge profit margins before are becoming more careful as the cost of fuel go’s up, spare parts become more expensive, repair costs rise and even time becomes precious. This gives reman some opportunities that we follow closely.

Jürgen Stempa, Head of WAIglobal Europe

Remanufacturing in the Middle East is something very new and we definitely see more interest. Governments, too, would like to see companies willing to invest in local remanufacturing. It’s not easy, however, because remanufactured products are already imported from Malaysia and Thailand, at very very low prices but still think there is quality difference. I believe that Saudi Arabia will also come into remanufacturing. As for Waiglobal, we have been in this market for many years so we know a lot of customers and yes, that the time may have come to do something more than we do today.Harald Benninger, IKA, Germany

For those who want to sell spare parts rather than whole units it’s quite difficult here in Dubai and in Saudi Arabia whereas it’s easier in countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Iran where more parts are repaired than in The Emirates or in Saudi Arabia. The only products that we sell well in Dubai and Saudi Arabia are the heavy duty spare parts.
To be honest, I’m not certain about the longer term opportunities but we certainly do not give up. That’s the reason why we have come here for years. We know it takes patience to develop a business here.

Oscar Villafranca, Remaned, Spain

The potential here is big because the market is growing very fast and the region has easy access to Europe, Africa and Asia. The car parks are demanding a lot of parts and, although we have to put in a great effort to explain to buyers and consumers the quality of reman, I think remanufactured goods will become important in the Middle East over the next five years.

Vitobello, Italy

We’re working towards developing Asian and Middle Eastern markets, including Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. These countries are developing fast and we want to be part of the growth. We think there will be good opportunities here and we hope to bring our business here up on the same level as it is in Europe.

Founded by a scrap merchant, the late Gaetano Vitobello, Italian core dealer, Vitobello Ricambi has prospered by focusing on quality and building networks as far as South America. The company now has its sights on expansion in Eastern Europe.

When, more than 40 years ago, Gaetano Vitobello made a living from collecting old car parts and selling them to foundries, one day he stopped up and told himself: “There is a better way of disposing of these parts.”

And there was indeed. Decades before anyone fully realised the value of recycling, Signor Vitobello in Cesena between Bologna and Rimini had a vision of preserving his used car parts by selling them to the incipient remanufacturing industry. Thus Vitobello Ricambi was born.

Working from a modern industrial building in Longiano which would have made Vitobello Senior proud, his son, 42-year-old Luca, is now continuing the business which bears his name – not only as one of Italy’s oldest core dealers, but also as one of the market leaders inside Italy but also in markets outside. Here, in Longiano near Bologna, the heartland of the Italian motor industry Luca Vitobello has built a business that extends into all corners of Italy, with a strong focus on South America and increasingly in Eastern Europe.

Having left school at the age of 14 to join his father’s business, Luca grew up with oil on his hands, a fact which in his view is an important part of the explanation behind his company’s progress.

“I didn’t go to business school,” he says with a smile. “But I learned the core business from the bottom up. Travelling around and staying with customers and getting to know them and their problems – all this has been a better school for me.”

Vitobello’s headquarters comprise a recently updated warehouse of 4,000 sq.m. from where the company supplies more than 15,000 engine parts for remanufacturing, including crankshafts, camshafts, engine-heads, pumps flywheels, injectors and even complete engines. In addition to the ten employees, 40 core collectors across Italy work closely with Vitobello. The close relationship with the buyers ensures not only a regular supply, but also a high standard of core.

“We make sure the products we supply are selected for their quality and every single item is inspected before going into the warehouse,” explains Luca Vitobello.

New parts

As a sign of the times, perhaps, the new warehouse is divided into two areas – one for new parts and one for the used cores. The new parts are a fairly recent addition to the Vitobello range, a decision forced by circumstance rather than preference. “We need the new parts for when there is a lack of suitable cores,” says Luca Vitobello. “But I expect the core part of the business to continue to account for the majority of our sales.’

Travelling around the world for three months a year, it is no coincidence that an important part of Vitobello’s expansion lies in the fairly distant market of South America where Vitobello Ricambi has set up an extensive network of distributors in Chile, Equador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. After a stow start which required a considerable amount of effort, South America is now one of the company’s main markets – and Spanish and Portuguese speaker Luca Vitobetlo is confident that there is further growth to come. As a result, he visits Latin America three times a year.

“In the early days, the problem was finding professionals with knowledge of remanufarturing,” he explains. “But as the markets begin to realise the value of remanufactured products and the fact that the price of such products is very good, this is no longer a problem.”

Remanufacturing more important

“I go there not so much in order to sell our products,” he adds, “but to stay with customers to assist them and educate them. It takes time, but we’re getting there and I believe that remanufacturing is becoming more important in some of these countries where it has been slow to take off.”

Likewise, Vitobello agrees that the East European markets represent a growth area and that part of the company’s further development will take place here. Once again, however, Vitobelli Ricambi is building for the long-term accepting that this, too, is going to take time. “But we’ve made a start and I’m sure we’ll get there. Don’t forget that years ago, the Italian, German and Spanish markets were the same. As the East European countries become more prosperous, there will be a greater need for remanufacturing.” During Lucca Vitobello’s frequent absences, the business back in Longiano is in the capable hands of Alixia Vitobello, his wife and business partner, who has become a well-known face at the many international trade fairs where the company exhibits, including Automechanika in Buenos Aires, Automechanika in the Middle East, MIMS in Moscow and the ReMaTec shows in Amsterdam.

Alixia Vitobello

Having worked alongside her husband, being an outsider – and a woman – in a male onented industry is no longer an issue for Alixia Vitobello.

“I think the customers know what I can do and are happy with it,” she says. And as for the future? “We would like to grow the company further and make it even better than it is now. Here in Italy, with its 800 rebuilding shops, the outlook for remanufactunng is good. People are becoming more professional all the time and quality is constantly improving.”

“My mission is our customers’ satisfaction,” Lucca Vitobello likes to say. Strongly confident of further growth – so far averaging 20 per cent per year – he prides himself on focused analysis and providing efficient and innovative solutions to his customers’ requirements. In striving for innovation and constantly updated knowledge of the markets, however, Vitobello has not lost sight of the fundamentals at the root of his business: